Generosity

by Eric Chaet

What I present to humanity must be generous
else it’s part of the problem, not of the solution.

I see that I have slipped into the usual nursing of grudges.

If I wait til I’m treated decently by everyone
I’ll never deliver what I have to give
that will help those
who don’t take from whoever can’t prevent it
& who must find ways to survive & thrive
& likewise deliver, generously.

My generosity must not be based on pretending that
there is less cruelty & obliviousness than there is—
but, still, it must be generous—
else what I present to humanity
will be part of the problem, not of the solution.

And why shouldn’t I be generous
however much or often strangers
or people who should know me by now
slight me, or take advantage of me, or slander me
or demonstrate in what little regard they hold me?

Haven’t I been created & loosed into a world
however much that world isn’t made to my specifications?